Thursday, June 30, 2011

Roses and Thorns

Over the years my precious hubby would come home with 1 rose as a gift. No, he was not cheap! He just happened to know that 1 rose for me was more special than a dozen. All of my senses were involved when I received this gift. The pedals were so soft to my touch. They reminded me of a blanket I had long ago that had a silky binding. It was so soft that I would just rub it in my fingers. Smelling the flower always takes me to fields full of the beauties. There is nothing quite like the smell of a rose. Depending on where you get your roses though they also have thorns. If you have ever been pricked by one you know they can be razor sharp. Those little suckers are so small, you wouldn't think they would hurt but they can easily draw blood if you are not careful.

Thorns are part of life's lessons. We simply can't have roses without them. Perhaps God put them there to remind us of simple truths. In the parable we are looking at Christ talks about the thorns in our lives.

The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

Mark 4:14-19 (ESV)

The cares of the world... Those 5 little words are powerful. Right now in our history we have a TON of cares don't we? No matter what you believe politically we can all pretty much agree that our country is changing course in a huge way. The country that our forefathers envisioned is fading way quickly. The economy is in the tank. So many people out of work etc. etc. etc. These are real cares of the world that each of us face every single day.

Jesus said that the cares of THIS world choke out the word and make us unfruitful. Just think about that for today and ask yourself this question. Am I allowing the cares of this world crowd out the WORD?

Spend some time in meditation and prayer. See you next time.

In Christ Alone,

Jill




Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the ground each morning Satan says, "Oh crud, she's up".

Monday, June 27, 2011

Planting Season

Hello everyone. I hope this finds you all walking in the LORD. In my part of the country we are finally getting dry enough to plant our gardens. I have learned over the last few years that the kind of soil is the most important part of having a successful garden. The soil here is very sandy. It is very hard to grow most things in soil so sandy. I have had to add soil that is richer to be successful.

Last time I wrote I asked you to consider the parable of the sower which is found in Mark 4:1-20. When reading this lately I was struck by a couple of things.

1. When the sower sowed the word on the path instead of good soil it did not grow.

2. When the sower sowed the word on rocky ground it started to grow but was unable to grow roots so it too did not grow.

3. When the sower sowed the word in soil filled with thorns so that the seed was choked out and did not grow.

4. When the sower sowed the word on the good soil the seed grew and became fruitful.

God calls each of us to bear good fruit. The only way that can happen is for our hearts to be filled with “good soil”. How do we cultivate good soil and not allow the thorns to come in and choke out our fruitfulness? I would say we need to identify what those thorns are so we can get rid of them. The next few posts will be about some of our thorns.

Until then…

In Christ Alone,

Jill



Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the ground each morning Satan says, "Oh crud, she's up".

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

It's Strawberry Time!!!

Good morning ladies. Here in Michigan we are in the midst of strawberry season. There is nothing like red, plump and juicy strawberries that melt in your mouth. We have several fruit stands and those beat the store brand anytime.

I shared the other day I have been studying the gospels for the past couple of months. In the book of Mark chapter 4 the parable of the sower is told. Both Matthew and Luke also tell the same parable. We will be looking at this parable for the next couple of days.

Here are Jesus' words, read it slow and meditate for today on it.
“Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Mark 4:3-9 (ESV)

Like the yummy strawberries I have enjoyed lately, Jesus uses seeds and fruit to talk about our spiritual lives. Take some time to ponder this spiritual truth and I will see you next time!

In Christ Alone,




Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the ground each morning Satan says, "Oh crud, she's up".

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Our Daily Appointment

My dear friends, how I have missed you. I have wanted to take up my pen and just write but as you know God had prompted me to jump off the Internet highway. What a ride it was. I have learned so many things during the past 6 weeks. Once I posted the last blog I never came back. I deleted all of the blogs I had been following. Other than paying my bills on line I totally fasted from the Internet.

I started listening to the Bible on CD again. I wanted to focus on Jesus and His words so I listened to the 4 gospels back to back over and over again. I quilted and listened. I cleaned and ironed while listening to the gospels. It helped me focus on Jesus' ministry. I also listened to Ravi Zacharias' sermons, the great apologist and theologian. He said something that has become my mantra.

"The biggest battle you will ever face is your daily appointment with God. Lose that battle and every other battle will be lost."

God's word is his love letter to you and I. We do have a daily appointment that we simply can't miss. It should be on our calendars every day, time with the LORD. Don't get out of bed each morning and try this battle we are in without the one daily appointment that is more important than all others.

Want to join me? I have missed you all.
In Christ Alone,
Jill



Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the ground each morning Satan says, "Oh crud, she's up".